Greta Van Fleet: ‘We’re a much more established band,’ says Sam Kiszka

When he first came to Brazil, in Lollapalooza 2019, Greta Van Fleet was quite unknown in Brazilian territory and only had two studio albums released, entitled From the Fires (2017) and Anthem of the Peaceful Army (2018). Now, Daniel Wagner, Josh Kiszka, Jake Kiszka It is Sam Kiszka have a solid fan base and two more albums, The Battle at Garden’s Gate (2021) and Starcatcher (2023).

In fact, it is with this experience and expanded repertoires that the artists will perform at the Lollapalooza Brasil 2024on the last day of the festival, on March 24, at Samsung Galaxy Stage, at 10:50 pm. During an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil, Sam revealed what to expect from the show, as well as reflecting on the band’s recent years.

Very good-natured and friendly, the bassist joked how “we’ve been preparing our whole lives for this performance,” and acknowledged how the invitation arrived “a little later,” as the group took the place of Dove Cameronwho canceled for “personal reasons.”

“I really don’t know what that situation was. But I love doing shows in Lollapaloozas,” stated the artist. “And we played on Lolla Brazil before and it was a lot of fun. There’s a lot of energy in the audience. And we thought: Yes, let’s do it again!”

Then he recognized how Greta Van Fleet it was very different: “Now, fortunately, I feel like we are a much more established band. And realize, even though we haven’t done anything very different since then, now people see and hear Greta Van Fleet. And they know what it is, which has been around for a while. The paradigm is that Greta Van Fleet It’s a thing.”

It’s nice not to have to feel like we’re proving something to ourselves. It has been proven what Greta Van Fleet Yeah, and I love it. But what we do now is, in some ways, different just because of the intensity of the agenda in 2024 versus 2019. It’s just different, more brutal, and it’s really, really good.

The show, which will take place on the Sunday of the festival at Autódromo de Interlagos, was described as “very dynamic,” with great hits from his career, tracks from his most recent work, Starcatcheras well as energetic songs and also calmer ones.

“And I say that because it’s all about dynamics, about bringing the audience on this journey with you. We also like to blow things up on the way. Safely, of course, but we like lots of shooting and explosions. So that’s always fun,” she added.

Starcatcher had a different dynamic after the pandemic

During the covid-19 pandemic, Greta Van Fleet launched The Battle at Garden’s Gatand in a way that the four members were not used to. While the successor, Starcatcherwas done in another context.

“It’s all about getting into a big room with all kinds of people, maybe it’s their first show, or maybe it’s their fifth show, maybe they know all the songs, maybe they know two songs, but it’s about bringing together all these people and share an experience in a night of pure fun,” he explained Sam Kiszka.

I hope they take that energy and walk out the door at the end of the night, and are inspired, to do something really cool with it.

Not only was the historical context of the band’s fourth studio album different, but the artists explored other sound styles on the album, which features a strong acoustic part. In fact, this style of music, whether from Eastern Europe or John Denveris greatly admired by the quartet.

This more acoustic side of Greta Van Fleet will be present in the band’s future, too: “For the next album, we’re going to try to lean a little more towards that acoustic side, but it’s always going to feel like that rock and roll attitude.”

“For example, the most famous rock band of all time, the Beatles, wasn’t a rock band like you think now. They played electric music, acoustic music and all kinds of different things. Until the [Rolling] Stones did all kinds of acoustic things, [além de] Neil Young It is Bob Dylan,” he commented.

Greta Van Fleet’s complex narratives

Not just the band’s signature rock and roll, the songs have deep lyrics with a narrative that accompanies each record. This is a way, as Sam explained, to make people think, to put someone in a situation where they can think about this song in an in-universe way. Greta Van Fleet.

“I really like it when someone comes up to me and says, ‘Wow, this song is about a person at war, and they’re doing this.’ And it’s a completely unique interpretation of the songs,” he said. “And I love hearing those interpretations, because that’s what I do with the songs.

And I think the most powerful thing about Josh’s lyrics is that you can interpret them.

For Sam Kiszkathese narratives and complexity in the lyrics are fundamental to the group’s existence, and this is attractive even if you come into contact with their music without having this notion or prior contact.

“The way the lyrics are written is poetic. If you listen to the song without knowing anything about Greta Van Fleet, the first thing you’ll think is, ‘Wow, this guy sings really loud.’ They are created in a way that sounds good to the ear,” explained the bassist. “It’s beautiful, it’s poetry, and you have to dig a little deeper to get a lot of meaning out of it. A lot of times, you have to look at the lyrics or listen to the song three or four times.”

Because it’s not just superficial lyrics, like ‘I went to a bar, sat down and had a beer.’ It’s about really big themes. It talks about the relationship between the stars and humans, with humanity, and humanity’s relationship with the archetypes of war, hatred and love.